And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

March 25, 2010 was the 53rd anniversary of the signing of the "Treaty of Rome" signed by the European leaders 53 years ago in the city of Rome. More on the significance of this day in a moment, bur first, to our reading for today.Daniel had been summoned by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to tell him his dream and to interpret the dream for the King. God gifted Daniel with the ability to reveal the dream to the Babylonian King,verse 28, and to interpret it for him.

The dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had was of an image of a man with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, two legs of iron and ten toes of iron and clay mixed. There was a stone that hit the image of the man and broke it into pieces.

These broken pieces were like chaff of the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away. The stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.Daniel's interpretation of the King's dream was actually the revelation of the "empires" of the coming Gentile world powers from the times of Daniel until the times of the return of Jesus Christ. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that he was the "head of gold",verse 38, the first of the Gentile world powers.

The passages inDaniel 7 and 8give us the understanding that the Medo-Persian Empire followed by the Grecian Empire and the Roman Empire would take Gentile history along the way of history, all the way to a time when the "ten toes" would appear. Let me tell you that the "ten toes" are the "Revived Roman Empire" of the future (see my study, "The Daniel Papers").It was 53 years ago that a group of Europeans met to sign the "Treaty of Rome" in Rome, Italy, that set the stage for the Common Market, which is today the European Union. A close look at the European Union reveals that it is at least an "infrastructure" of the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy of the "ten toes" which will be ten nations, kings, or regions.

The key verse to notice about this prophecy isverse 44, "in the days of these kings". The God of heaven will destroy them and set up the kingdom that Jesus Christ will rule and reign over at His Return. This interpretation of these prophecies fits the prophecies of John the Revelator in his book of prophecy,Revelation 17.

The evidence is strong that we are living in those days. But remember, before the Lord's Second Coming, seven years before, the Rapture takes place and that could happen today.

PRAYER THOT: Thank you for Daniel's prophecy that helps me understand the Lord's time and that which proceeds His coming back to the Earth. Help me to realize the Rapture could be very close at hand and how then I should live in light of that realization.